Why do I fail exams despite studying for months?
Watching lectures and taking notes all day often masks a major gap in fundamental understanding. Without grasping those core concepts, studying over and over for months still results in extremely low scores. This massive disconnect between time spent and actual grades ultimately leaves students feeling like idiots.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Study the material in parallel and randomly quiz themDid this help you?
- 2Hire tutors or enroll them in afterschool classesDid this help you?
- 3Get them assessed for learning disabilitiesDid this help you?
- 4Install parental controls on devices to block gaming and distractionsDid this help you?
- 5Involve them in social studying or study groupsDid this help you?
- 6Retaking the classDid this help you?
- 7Looking on YouTube for different study strategiesDid this help you?
- 8Taking lots of practice tests to figure out the correct way to prepareDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“His mother notes that he seems to study constantly (about 8-10 hrs she mentioned), yet he just failed his mid-term exams, scoring under 20 marks in all three core subjects.”source ↗
“His father says he watches online lectures, takes notes, and spends the whole day studying. He has always been a quiet, well-behaved kid who doesn't cause any trouble. However, given his extremely low scores, there is a major gap in his fundamental understanding.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 6Why am I passing homework but failing quizzes?
- 8Why won't students do the reading assignments?
- 6How to handle students falling asleep in class
- 4Why can't I retain anything from McGraw Hill?
- 4What to do if you are failing core college classes
- 9Why do high schools pass and graduate students who don't do any work?